Former Syracuse Crunch goalie Dustin Tokarski opened eyes around the hockey world with his 35-save performance in Montreal's 3-2 overtime win over the New York Rangers on Thursday in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The playoff game was just the second of Tokarski's career as he fills in for injured starter Carey Price.

The Rangers lead the series two games to one. Game four in Sunday in New York.

Here's a sample of the buzz Tokarski has created on the NHL's grandest stage:

The dressing room was too small, and Dustin Tokarski was too short, just 5-feet-11. So the reporters gathered in the hallway, and Tokarski stepped up on a milk crate wearing sandals, shorts, a T-shirt, a scruffy beard and a backward Montreal Canadiens cap. All around him were spotlights and cameras and voice recorders and microphones and boom mics - boom mics banging people in the head - as the questions flew at him like pucks. — Nicholas J. Cotsonika, Yahoo Sports

"Before March? Not much," captain Brian Gionta said when asked what he knew about Tokarski before now. "When Michel [Therrien] went with him in a couple of those games then we found out more what the kid was about, the poise that he showed and handling a tough situation. And again, coming in last game, that's a real tough situation to be in for a young kid in Montreal. He's handled himself really well." — Pierre LeBrun, ESPN.com

If Tokarski should continue to play this well and outduel King Henrik to create another Habs goaltending legend, it will be interesting to see what the Canadiens have in store for him. Not in the short-term, of course. When Scott Oake of Hockey Night in Canada said in a post-game interview that he was betting Tokarski would start Game 4, he responded by saying, "Me too." After being just good in a Game 2 loss to the Rangers, Tokarski delivered the otherworldly kind of goaltending the Canadiens are going to need if they have any hope of winning this series. — Ken Campbell, The Hockey News